Re-referral back to NHS hospital for frozen embryo transfer - wait time?

[Saltisford]

I wonder if anyone can advise me of the current system to go through for being referred back to an NHS hospital fertility clinic for a frozen embryo transfer after a successful NHS funded ICSI round of IVF?

We have two frozen embryos stored from our previous cycle and I understand that now I will need to pay privately but as such thought that the wait time would be minimal as we will be private patients. I got referred back from my GP to CRM Coventry (where our embryos are stored and where our previous treatment took place) but it seems there is a six/seven month wait for an initial phone consultation. Is this standard due to the Covid situation or do you think I am in the wrong queue so to speak? The wait is longer than my initial wait originally when I was an NHS patient. I’ve tried to contact the centre directly but have had no response and obviously we must be seen there as that is where our embryos are.

I'm in the same situation, and am now self-funding a FET (transfer next week) after a being referred back by my GP in March. It's the same waiting times for a self-funded patient as a NHS patient.

If you want to go private I think you can find a clinic and pay for your embryos to be transferred there. I imagine you'll pay quite a bit more though.

Does the clinic only do nhs treatment? My nhs treatment was at clinic that also operates privately. My nhs funded ivf resulted in my ds and I just had a FET (that I paid for) in the same clinic. I contacted them directly and there was no wait time at all. I would move your embryos if you can't even get them to respond to you.

I know that when I looked into CRM as a fully private patient they said I had to have a GP referral before being seen even though I'd self referred for 5 previous rounds of IVF with another private clinic. If you don't want to wait I'd transfer your embryos to a different clinic but I think there are still back logs with most clinics to be honest x

Thanks everyone for your replies. I’m not in a rush or feel like I need to speed up the wait time, just more worried that I’ve been referred to the wrong place or something! Plus the appointment is a phone interview so won’t even involve quick standard tests like a scan or blood test to get the ball rolling. Im quite happy to stay with CRM as we had great results last time but bit of an anti climax after building up the courage to contact the GP about it all and start the big journey all over again.

Hi, we did a private FET after a successful NHS ICSI cycle. In our NHS clinic it was a different process. I didn’t need to involve the GP and contacted them directly. There wasn’t much of a wait. I did look into moving the embryos to a fully private clinic. If it’s something you are interested in the future you can pay for your embryos to be couriered to the new clinic. If you contact the new clinic the embryologists should send you over the paperwork which needs doing. The costs do add up as there are usually admin costs for the embryos to exit the old clinic and admin costs to enter the new clinic as well as the cost of the courier. The process itself doesn’t sound too bad though. The embryologists at our NHS clinic were more than happy to speak with me directly when I called and asked to be put through and explained the process. Hope this helps. X

Also you will need to pay for embryo storage costs at the new clinic!

Thanks @Babybum21, I’m happy to stay at Coventry as it went pretty well last time, it’s just the wait time! I’ve emailed now to see if I get a response that way. Initially I thought the appointment was a phone one but it seems to be face to face as I’ve had the letter through now. And storage fees! Yes - the annual fees will be due before the appointment so that’s annoying!

@Saltisford I just googled about Re-Referal for FET to see if it was the standard practise after getting off the phone to Coventry CRM this afternoon.

I’m in the exact same situation as you so previous success with ICSI round there and have a frozen embryo there too.

I’m shocked that this is the process as it seems really odd to be on the same waiting list as new patients who need a whole new protocol setting out and egg collections etc when they already have all of our history, info and embryos there!

I’ve got a call with the GP for the referral tomorrow to get the ball rolling but like you was very confused - you’ll have to keep me updated on where you get to and vice versa xx

There are a few steps they need to repeat - blood tests, transvaginal scan, explaining protocol (they had changed the FET process at my hospital), and new consent forms signed and witnessed. I think that's why it takes so long. Once I got those steps out the way there was no delay to booking in for the actual transfer. I'm at Homerton though, not Coventry.

Hi everyone!

I tried a different tactic - instead of ringing and leaving a voicemail, I emailed enquiring about the wait time as I’ll be paying privately and they replied saying they’ve changed my status from nhs to self-funded and that I’ll get a new appointment! So we’ll see what happens next! @IndigoRay we definitely need to swap notes!

@Saltisford good news! Hope you can get things moving quickly